Eurotunnel has record breaking year for freight - despite Calais migrant crisis

I am a reporter at City A.M. looking at the stories, people and data behind political events from the UK, Europe and further afield. I also write about infrastructure and transport, as well as broader issues around global business.

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James Nickerson

Eurotunnel overcame the Calais migrant crisis to deliver a record breaking year (Source: Getty)

Despite Operation Stack holding up thousands of lorries in Kent, Groupe Eurotunnel reported a record breaking year for its freight shuttle service.

The company said that a week after "Le Shuttle Freight" carried the 23 millionth truck through the Channel Tunnel since commercial services started, Eurotunnel hit a new all-time record.

Eurotunnel carried just under 1.5m trucks in both directions, between Folkestone, Kent, and Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais in 2015.

The previous record was set in 2012, the year of the London Olympic Games.

The new truck terminal security, put in place in October, helped buoy demand to attract transporters in their masses, Eurotunnel said.

The French-Anglo transport group added: "With 45 per cent infrastructure capacity still available, three new truck shuttles on order and a market which continues to grow, the outlook for Eurotunnel is positive."

Eurotunnel previously reported rail traffic having plummeted by a third over the three months to the end of September, thanks to "intense migrant pressure" disrupting operations in Calais.

Due to the Calais migrant crisis, the company was forced to improve its security, installing 29km of high fences and doubling its security team to almost 250 people including dog teams, in an effort to prevent further break-ins to the tunnel.